Valuable information on email copywriting
The first live webinar I was exposed to at Mequoda Group was the Email Subject Line Smackdown.
It was a very refreshing 90 minutes with three of America’s top copywriters, Peter Fogel, Mark Everett Johnson and Peter A. Schaible. Years of experience were shown through the guest panelists’ commentary and the light-hearted nature of the webinar, which made it quite enjoyable.
Among the highlights from this webinar was the “Smackdown” portion. We had asked attendees to send us their best performing email subject lines, which we then asked our team of copywriters to re-write.
Each copywriter created his own email subject line based off the previously submitted entries. The panel then discussed the reasons why they created the new email subject in the specific manner they did.
From here, we let the audience vote on the best subject line. Who would win? One from three of our copywriters, or the control? Despite the original subject lines being considered “best performers” by the publishers who submitted them, in every Smackdown the prevailing subject line was never the control.
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These tips will get your email read
The Email Subject Line Smackdown taught a lot about the art of copywriting. Nowadays, I feel the information from the webinar can be utilized more than ever as everyone from CEOs to interns are asked to create original promotional copy.
During the webinar, Mark Everett Johnson offered four tips to follow while writing copy for email subject lines. They are as follows:
Email Subject Line Tips:
– Offer a quick and easy way to do something.
– Talk about the readers’ self-interest. While doing so, give something that benefits them and they will be more responsive.
– Give your readers information that is newsworthy. It helps greatly when the news is good news.
– Arouse curiosity in your readers. This works the best when it directly relates to the previously mentioned guidelines.
Other helpful information on email copywriting
The average email user gets dozens of emails per day, while others may receive hundreds of email messages per day. As a publisher I’m sure you’re aware of this. An email subject line that fits the above criteria has a better chance of getting read. If you don’t follow specific guidelines while sending out email promotions, there’s a good chance your messages may be labeled as spam or end up in your recipients’ bulk folder. Pay close attention to the words you use, and be sure to familiarize yourself with these spam trigger words.
It’s true; the explosion of electronic media has put the burden of copywriting on different team members, many of whom do not like to write in the slightest.
If this applies to you or your team members, don’t worry too much. There are resources that can be utilized to learn the art of copywriting and we can help provide these resources. For instance, do you know about all the email copywriting archetypes that exist? We have compiled and named them for the benefit of all writers. All of these archetypes can be found in The 17 Best Email Subject Lines white paper for free.
If you were part of the Email Subject Line Smackdown, or wish you were, be sure to attend our upcoming Email Copywriting Workshop for more insight and critiques from Mark Everett Johnson. Register early for the chance to submit your own email subject lines.
